"The State of Israel ... will ensure complete equality of social and political
rights of all its inhabitants irrespective of religion ... it will guarantee freedom
of religion and conscience." - May 1948)

Quote

"In pluralism you can’t just say, 'I like it.' You have to present an intelligent argument for embracing your conviction. And, I say there can be conviction and depth if you learn to hear your own music without having to negate the other. Acclimation without negation. I don’t have to negate the other in order to affirm what I have."

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A large majority of voters for Israel’s civil parties, including the Likud, want freedom of marriage, and given the central role that religion/state issues are playing in the current election campaign - We may be closer than ever before to forming a coalition that will finally grant Israelis this fundamental right.

70% of Israel's adult Jewish population wants the State of Israel to recognize all forms of marriage, including civil marriage and Reform and Conservative weddings. Most of the public wants legal alternatives to marriage via the Rabbinate!

At 5:30 AM on July 19th, two policemen knocked on the Haifa apartment of Dubi Haiyun, Rabbi of the Conservative congregation in Haifa. This followed orders given to the police by the Haifa rabbinic court, which alleged that Rabbi Haiyun was in breach of criminal law regarding a wedding he conducted.

The Ministry of Religious Services has now reported a 4% drop in the number of couples marrying via the Rabbinate from 2016 to 2017. (The decline is really greater, because they ignore the increase in the Jewish population). In Tel Aviv the decline is greater than 15%!!

The New York Times reports that Consul General Dayan wrote: "it is no secret many members of the American Jewish community disagree with existing Israeli legislation on civil status issues... Ultimately the Israeli Knesset — elected democratically by the Israeli citizens — legislates.

50% of the Jewish Israeli public prefers non-Orthodox marriage. A growing majority of the Jewish public is fed up with and rejects the Israeli government's position and wants Israel to join all other Western democracies in establishing marriage freedom.

55% of the Jewish Israeli public and 81% of the secular Jewish Israeli public are interested in alternative marriages outside the auspices of Israel's Chief Rabbinate. This is the first time that a majority of the Jewish Israeli public has expressed a personal preference for marriages outside the Chief Rabbinate.

Civil marriage is one of the most encumbered issues in the Jewish state, but the Modern Orthodox organization Ne’emenei Torah Va’Avodah began a campaign Sunday advocating for the introduction of such a possibility in Israel.

In the past year, Hiddush focused on the battle for marriage freedom in Israel as our leading cause, conducting a comprehensive series of surveys and studies that highlighted a clear trend: the Israeli Jewish public supports marriage freedom.

Batya Kahana Dror, Esq. writes, "Getting married via the Rabbinate is not fitting for all couples. Sometimes this clashes with their worldviews, and sometimes it creates bureaucratic difficulties in simply obtaining the Rabbinate's permission to marry at all. Divorcing through the Rabbinate is also more difficult."